Razor

ABSTRACT

A razor comprising a circular, spherically curved blade formed with circular, edge sharpened shaving openings equally spaced circularly about the center of the blade, the sharpened edges of the openings being formed at the outer convex surface of the blade, by the intersection of said outer surface with spherical surfaces ground in the inner concave surfaces of the blade, at and outwardly of the edges of the holes, so that, by gyrating the convex surface of the blade in contact with a skin surface to be shaved, hair will be sliced off, at the skin surface, by the sharpened peripheral edges of the holes, a ring-like handle being fastened to the blade, at its periphery, to aid in manipulating the same in the performance of the shaving operation.

United States Patent Scholin Nov. 7, 1972 [54] RAZOR 1,076,528 2/1960 Germany ..30/346.5l

[72] Inventor: Harold W. Scholin, Park Ridge, Ill.

Primary Examiner-Robert C. Riordon [73] Assrgnee: Unirazor, Ltd., Northbrook, Ill. Assistant L, s i h [22] Oct. 13, 1971 Attorney-Richard L. Johnston et a1.

[21] Appl. No.: 190,274 [57] ABSTRACT Rellml pp Data A razor comprising a circular, spherically curved [63] Continuation of Sen No. 652744, July 12 blade formed with circular, edge sharpened shaving 1967, abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 452,787, May 3, 1965, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl ..30/49, 30/3465 [51] Int. Cl. .3261: 21/42, 1326b 21/54 [58] Field of Search ..30/32, 49, 50, 346.51, 90, 30/3465 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,359,584 10/1944 Roehner ..30/34 R 2,614,321 10/1952 Ackerman ..30/49 X 2,989,804 6/1961 Yellon ..30/32 FORElGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS t 113 x111: r: :t1---':: -:J:J;Q 346-51 openings equally spaced circularly about the center of the blade, the sharpened edges of the openings being formed at the outer convex surface of the blade, by the intersection of said outer surface with spherical surfaces ground in the inner concave surfaces of the blade, at and outwardly of the edges of the holes, so that, by gyrating the convex surface of the blade in contact with a skin surface to be shaved, hair will be sliced off, at the skin surface, by the sharpened peripheral edges of the holes, a ring-like handle being fastened to the blade, at its periphery, to aid in manipulating the same in the performance of the shaving operation.

9 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEDuuv 1 m2 SHEEI 2 BF 2 l/VVE/VfORt- HAROLD 14/. SCHOL l/V aszoa This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 652,744, filed July 12, 1967, which was a continuation of application Ser. No. 452,787, filed May 3, 1965, now both abandoned.

This invention relates in general to shaving razors, and has more particular reference to a new and improved razor blade having a plurality of edge sharpened holes formed therein.

An important object of the invention is to provide a razor embodying outwardly dished blade means having an opening formed with a marginal, inwardly facing cutting edge; a further object being to provide a razor having a plurality of adjacently arranged circular cutting edges each formed at and peripherally of a hole in a razor blade element; another object being to provide a razor comprising a plurality of adjacent razor blade elements each having a single opening therethrough and edge sharpened to provide a peripheral, inwardly facing razor edge; a still further object being to provide a razor embodying a spherically shaped blade element having one or more edge sharpened holes formed therethrough.

Another important object is to provide a razor blade formed with one or more edge sharpened holes therethrough wherein the holes are large enough to permit a skin surface being shaved to bulge or protrude through the opening only sufliciently to permit hair to be sliced off at the skin surface, the protrusion of skin into the hole being less than enough to permit the sharpened edges to slice into the skin surface; a further object being to form the blade with shaving openings having diameter of the order of three to five eights of an inch; a still further object being to space the openings circularly about a central locus in the plate, and to provide not less than three nor more than five openings in the blade; yet another object being to provide exactly four equally spaced openings in the blade, and to employ 7/16 inch diameter openings, which appears to be an optimum size.

Another important object of the invention is to form a shaving edge at the margin of a hole in a razor blade element by grinding the same spherically on one side of the blade.

Another important object is to provide a razor by embedding the marginal edges of a plate-like razor blade element having one or more edge sharpened holes therethrough in a holder ring of plastic or other suitable material to provide a handle for the manipulation of the blade.

The foregoing and numerous other important ob jects, advantages and inherent functions of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses preferred embodiments of the invention.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a razor embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the razor shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through a blade element of the sort embodied in the razor shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, to illustrate a way of grinding a cutting edge in the element;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the razor shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of a modified form of razor embodying the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the razor shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 8-8 in FIG. 7;

FIGS. 9 and ll are enlarged sectional views respectively taken substantially along the lines 9-9 and ll- 1 l in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a greatly enlarged sectional view through the cutting edge portion of blades embodying the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of apparatus for grinding a convex spherical surface on razor blade elements embodying the present invention.

To illustrate the invention the drawings show a razor 11 comprising a thin sheet metal blade 13 supported at its peripheral edges in a preferably ring-like handle 15 of readily moldable plastic or other suitable handle material. The blade 13 is formed with one or more preferably circular holes, openings or perforations 17 therethrough, the margins of said openings being sharpened to form peripheral, inwardly facing fine cutting edges 19 around the hole or holes 17.

As shown more particularly in FIGS. 1-5 of the drawings, the razor preferably comprises a single, outwardly convex, spherically curved plate or blade 13 formed with a plurality of circularly spaced holes 17 extending therethrough, said holes being preferably circular and having a diameter of the order of four to five tenths of an inch. Eminently satisfactory results are realized where the diameter of the openings is precisely 7/16 of an inch (0.4375 inch) although obviously the openings need not be held precisely to the size mentioned, but may be in the range between, say 5/16 inch and 1 1/16 inch. In this connection, the openings should be large enough to permit skin tissue to be shaved to bulge or protrude sufficiently into the opening to facilitate the slicing 011' of hairs, at the skin line, by the sharpened edges of the holes, without permitting skin to protrude into the openings sufficiently to allow the edges to cut into the skin.

While the plate 13 may be formed with a single opening, if desired, it is preferable to provide three or more equally spaced openings, preferably arranged circularly about and equally spaced from a central point in the blade. As shown, it is convenient to provide a spherically curved blade 13 having a circular marginal edge and provided with four circular openings in equally spaced circular arrangement about the center of the plate; but five or more openings may, perhaps, be used to advantage in special circumstances.

In order to manufacture the razor blade, a thin disc of suitable razor blade material, such as carbon steel, tool steel, stainless steel and the like, may first be blanked to size. It may then be pressed or otherwise shaped to the desired spherical configuration, the radius of curvature being preferably of the order of 2 inches. The convex side of the blank may then be ground precisely to form a surface 20 having the desired radius of curvature. The holes 17 may be pierced, punched or otherwise formed in the disc, afier which beveled surfaces 21 may be machined at the edges of the openings 17, on the concave side 23 of the plate 13, and also at its peripheral edge. The blade may then be tempered to obtain desired hardness.

The thickness of the blade is not at all critical and may be less than 0.0l of an inch, or as much as 1/16 inch. Thinness, however, is desirable in the interests of low cost; and satisfactory results may be had where thickness of the blade is of the order of 1/100 of an inch.

The peripheral edge of the blade may be ground to size, as by rotating the same against a grinding wheel. A ball shaped grinding tool or wheel may be employed to rough-grind the edges of the holes, one at a time, from the inner or concave side of the plate 13. The peripheral edge of the plate then may be lapped to attain a more accurate dimension and a finer finish, after which the surfaces 21 may be lapped to form the knife edges 19, lapping being accomplished as by means of a diamond dust coated or impregnated ball B of brass, bakelite or steel having a diameter preferably of the order of one inch, the ball preferably being spun in lapping position by means of an air jet, lapping pressure being applied solely by the gravity weight of the ball.

Finally, the ring-like handle 15, which may be made of high impact styrene, nylon or like material, may be applied to the peripheral edges of the blade 13, as by injection molding, said handle, preferably comprising a cylindrical portion 22, having a seat 24 securely receiving the beveled peripheral edge of the plate 13, at one end of said cylindrical portion. The handle also preferably has an outwardly extending flange 25 spaced away from the seat 24. The periphery of the flange 25 may be roughened by diamond knurling the same, as shown at 27, to provide firm finger grippage for the manipulation of the razor.

As shown more particularly in FIGS. 6-11 of the drawings, the razor may comprise a plurality of blade elements 29 each formed with a single hole 17' therethrough, said plates comprising suitable material, such as carbon steel, tool steel or stainless steel. Each blade preferably has squarish peripheral configuration defined by four straight sides interconnected by arcuate portions at the four corners of the blade. the blades 29 preferably are all spherically shaped on the same radius of curvature, which conveniently may be of the order of 1 inch at the outer or convex side of the elements.

The elements may be formed by first pressing the same to the desired curvature and grinding their convex sides 20 precisely to the desired radius of spherical curvature. Openings 1? may be made in the plates, which preferably are then formed to the desired square shape with arcuate corners. The blade elements may be tempered to provide desired hardness, after which their peripheral edges may be ground precisely to the desired size and shape. A ball-shaped tool or wheel may be employed to rough grind the edges of the hole 17 from the rear or concave side 23 of the element to form beveled surfaces 21'. The peripheral edges of the plate may then be lapped to final finished condition, and the inner beveled surfaces 21 of the hole lapped by means of a diamond coated or impregnated ball, like the ball B, spinning under the influence of an air jet, the gravity weight of the ball only providing lapping pressure. Finally, the required number of elements 29 may be assembled in a suitable injection molding die and there embedded in the handle 15 comprising suitable moldable material, such as high impact styrene, nylon or like material suitable for injection molding.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the present invention pertains to a new type of razor which may be used for shaving hair from the surface S of any part of the body, and particularly relatively long hair such as that found on the legs, under the arms, and on the abdominal and perineal areas of the body. It is particularly useful for preparing these latter areas for surgery. The razor of the present invention is of unique construction in that it does not require any special type of holder or guard for the blade. The razor is unusual, also, in embodying a spherical blade element having one or more holes marginally ground to a fine, sharp cutting edge around the borders of the hole or holes. When the spherical blade is pressed upon and wiped across the surface to be shaved, the skin protrudes itself slightly into the hole, thereby exposing the hairs for shaving. By applying a circular, gyratory motion to the razor, a shearing action is produced upon the hairs, at the skin line, because of the inwardly facing character of the shaving edges. Accordingly, a smooth, clean shave may be obtained with a minimum of shaving strokes. While the razor may be used dry, nevertheless, to eliminate irritation on the more tender parts of the body, it is advisable to use a suitable lubricant such as soap.

By providing a plurality of relatively small razor sharp edged holes, the possibility of cutting the skin while shaving is minimized, and, indeed, substantially prohibited. The reason why inadvertent cutting of the skin, while shaving, is substantially inhibited, is, first, because the area of skin exposed in the blade opening is relatively small, and, second, because there is no centrally disposed opening in the razor; but the holes are all offset radially from the center of the blade, the several shaving openings being all grouped circularly around the center of the razor. As a consequence, when the razor is held by the rim 27, the cutting action is always of a shearing character, while the razor gyrates circularly across the surface of the skin being shaved. if a centered hole were to be provided in the razor, it would be possible to rotate the razor about the center of the shaving opening, in which case there would be a tendency to cut a circle of skin without cutting any hair. It is therefore desirable that no shaving opening be centered in the razor.

The number of shaving openings and their relative size may be varied, of course; but it has been experimentally determined that four holes, having a diameter of the order of 7/16 of an inch, at the honed cutting edges thereof, and disposed about the center of the razor, in the manner shown in FIGS. 2 and 7 of the drawings, appears to be a practical and satisfactory, if not optimum, arrangement.

The unitary spherically curved blade of the razor shown in FIGS. 1-5 is unique in that the cutting edges of the blade are formed by the intersection of two spherical surfaces, so that a sharp cutting edge may be easily ground and lapped or honed, and kept in optimum cutting condition during the service life of the device, since it is unnecessary to maintain any close tolerance relationship between the outside radius of the blade, which is preferably of the order of 2 inches, and the spherical radius of the inner inclined sides 21 of the cutting edges, at the several openings, which is of the order of one-half inch, being formed by the 1 inch diameter sphere B. These inner inclined sides of the cutting edges are preferably ground and lapped by a ball having a diameter of the order of 1 inch, as shown more particularly in FIG. 4 of the drawings.

This form of blade has an inherent design limitation in that the angle of incidence of the cutting edges 19 upon the surface S being shaved, which can not be varied, is determined by the curvature of the outer spherical surface of the blade element 13. It has been determined that, under certain circumstances, it is desirable to have a somewhat steeper angle of incidence of the cutting edge with respect to the surface being shaved, that is to say, an edge that provides more scraping action. This, of course, could be accomplished by bulging the edges of each hole outwardly, thereby making the grinding of the cutting edge extremely difficult because of the necessity of working upon the outer surfaces of conically bulged edge portions of the holes.

The razor construction shown in FIGS. 6-10, however, provides cutting edges having a relatively steeper angle of incidence with the surface to be shaved than in the FIGS. 1-5 embodiment, the desired result being accomplished by producing separate blade elements each having its own opening and a radius of outer spherical curvature considerably smaller than that of the blade element in the FIGS. 1-5 embodiment, the curvature of the blade elements in the FIGS. 7-10 embodiment being such as to present the cutting edges at a desired relatively steep inclination with respect to the surface to be shaved.

As shown more particularly in H68. 9 and 10 of the drawings, each blade 29 of the embodiment shown in F 10$. 6, 7 and 8 may be spherically curved on a radius of the order of 1 inch as compared with the 2 inch curvature radius of the blade in the F168. 1-3 embodiment. The beveled surfaces 21, 21' defining the cutting edge 19 in both embodiments, however, may be formed by lapping with the same one inch diameter ball B.

As shown more especially in FIG. 12 of the drawings, the convex surfaces of the blades 13, 13' may be formed by grinding the same with a generally concave spool-shaped wheel 31, preferably mounted for rotary grinding movement about its axis 32. The side surfaces of the wheel are dressed to the sectional shape of the spherical curvature desired in the blade. The blade 13 to be lapped may be mounted on a support base 33 having a spherical blade carrying portion 35, upon which the blade may be secured in any preferred fashion, as by means of cement. The support 33 has an axis 37 extending centrally of the spherical portion and through the center of curvature thereof, and the blade element to be lapped is secured on the support with its center coincident with the axis 37. The grinding wheel and support base with blade element secured thereon may then be brought into grinding relationship presenting the blade element against the shaped side of the wheel, with the axis 37 of the support extending normal to the axis 32 of the wheel and in the medial plane of its dressed surface, that is to say, its plane of minimal diameter.

For optimum grinding performance, the wheel 31 and blade carrying support 33 should be relatively rotated about the axis 37. This may be done by rotating the support and mounted blade about the axis 37 while spinning the grinding wheel about its rotary axis 32. Alternately, the support 33 and mounted blade may remain stationary and the spinning wheel 31 may be mounted in a trunnion for rotation about the axis 37 while spinning about the axis 32. In either case the dressed wheel will grind the desired spherical curvature into the convex surface of the blade mounted on the support 33.

It is thought that the invention and its numerous attendant advantages will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, or sacrificing any of its attendant advantages, the forms herein disclosed being preferred embodiments for the purpose of demonstrating the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A razor embodying outwardly convex blade means comprising a plurality of spherically curved blade elements each having a single hole extending therethrough, with a cutting edge formed at and around the margin of the hole, each said blade element having a squarish peripheral defined by four straight edges interconnected by arcuate portions at the four corners thereof, and holder means securing the blade elements in edge abutting position, with the holes disposed in spaced relation about a central locus in the razor.

2. A razor as set forth in claim 1, wherein the radius of spherical curvature of the blade elements is of the order of 1 inch, the edges of the blade elements, at and outwardly of the hole therein, on the concave sides thereof, being each shaped to provide, therein, a spherical surface intersecting the convex face of the element and forming a circular cutting edge therewith peripherally of the hole, said spherical surface having a radius of curvature of the order of a half inch.

3. A razor embodying outwardly convex blade means comprising a plurality of spherically curved blade elements each having a single hole extending therethrough, with a cutting edge formed at and around the margin of the hole, each said blade element having a pair of adjacent flat bearing sides adapted for bearing engagement with abutting flat bearing sides of adjacent blade elements, thereby to determine the circular spacement of the holes about the central locus, and holder means securing the blade elements in edge abutting position, with the holes disposed in spaced relation about a central locus in the razor.

4. A razor as set forth in claim 3, wherein the corner of each blade element, between the adjacent flat sides thereof is truncated to define an opening about which the several blade elements are disposed, and a filler member extending in and closing said opening.

5. A razor as set forth in claim 3, wherein the blade holder comprises a rim element surrounding the blade elements and peripherally engaging and enclosing the sides thereof that extend outwardly of the bearing sides.

6. A razor embodying outwardly, spherically convex blade means having at least three and not more than five holes therein each having a diameter not less than 5/16 inch and not more than 11/16 inch, grasping means on said blade means to facilitate the manipulation thereof for shaving purposes, each said hole having a peripheral sharpened shaving edge formed by the intersection of the outer spherical surface of said blade means with a ground spherical surface formed in the concave side of said blade means. said ground spherical surface having a lesser radius of curvature than that of said blade means, said sharpened peripheral shaving edges being adapted to slicingly sever hair from skin surfaces being shaved, in response to gyratory movement of the blade means in convex contact with said skin surface, said holes being disposed about a central locus, to avoid the likelihood of rotation of the blade means about the center of any of said holes when the same is gyrated.

7. A razor as defined in claim 6, wherein the number of edge sharpened holes is four.

8. A razor as defined in claim 6, wherein the radius of spherical curvature of said convex blade means is of the order of 2 inches, and the radius of spherical curvature of said ground spherical surfaces is of the order of onehalf inch.

9. A razor as defined in claim 6, wherein the diameter of each of said holes is of the order of 7/16 inch.

i l i 

1. A razor embodying outwardly convex blade means comprising a plurality of spherically curved blade elements each having a single hole extending therethrough, with a cutting edge formed at and around the margin of the hole, each said blade element having a squarish peripheral defined by four straight edges interconnected by arcuate portions at the four corners thereof, and holder means securing the blade elements in edge abutting position, with the holes disposed in spaced relation about a central locus in the razor.
 2. A razor as set forth in claim 1, wherein the radius of spherical curvature of the blade elements is of the order of 1 inch, the edges of the blade elements, at and outwardly of the hole therein, on the concave sides thereof, being each shaped to provide, therein, a spherical surface intersectIng the convex face of the element and forming a circular cutting edge therewith peripherally of the hole, said spherical surface having a radius of curvature of the order of a half inch.
 3. A razor embodying outwardly convex blade means comprising a plurality of spherically curved blade elements each having a single hole extending therethrough, with a cutting edge formed at and around the margin of the hole, each said blade element having a pair of adjacent flat bearing sides adapted for bearing engagement with abutting flat bearing sides of adjacent blade elements, thereby to determine the circular spacement of the holes about the central locus, and holder means securing the blade elements in edge abutting position, with the holes disposed in spaced relation about a central locus in the razor.
 4. A razor as set forth in claim 3, wherein the corner of each blade element, between the adjacent flat sides thereof is truncated to define an opening about which the several blade elements are disposed, and a filler member extending in and closing said opening.
 5. A razor as set forth in claim 3, wherein the blade holder comprises a rim element surrounding the blade elements and peripherally engaging and enclosing the sides thereof that extend outwardly of the bearing sides.
 6. A razor embodying outwardly, spherically convex blade means having at least three and not more than five holes therein each having a diameter not less than 5/16 inch and not more than 11/16 inch, grasping means on said blade means to facilitate the manipulation thereof for shaving purposes, each said hole having a peripheral sharpened shaving edge formed by the intersection of the outer spherical surface of said blade means with a ground spherical surface formed in the concave side of said blade means, said ground spherical surface having a lesser radius of curvature than that of said blade means, said sharpened peripheral shaving edges being adapted to slicingly sever hair from skin surfaces being shaved, in response to gyratory movement of the blade means in convex contact with said skin surface, said holes being disposed about a central locus, to avoid the likelihood of rotation of the blade means about the center of any of said holes when the same is gyrated.
 7. A razor as defined in claim 6, wherein the number of edge sharpened holes is four.
 8. A razor as defined in claim 6, wherein the radius of spherical curvature of said convex blade means is of the order of 2 inches, and the radius of spherical curvature of said ground spherical surfaces is of the order of one-half inch.
 9. A razor as defined in claim 6, wherein the diameter of each of said holes is of the order of 7/16 inch. 